Pinecone platy

T

Theatre1sm

AC Members
Oct 10, 2005
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Olive Branch, MS
I have a 65 gal planted tank with 10 bosemanii rainbows, 1 common plec*, 4-5 Amano shrimp, 1 blue lobster and 10-12 platy. The majority of platy are fry that have grown out of my 10 gal nursery tank into "the real world" though I do have 3 platy I purchased from the lfs.

The problem is that I have one platy that is puffed up and almost pine-cone in appearance because of the layered look of her fins. None of the other platy or fish are showing any signs of discomfort. This particular girl likes to stay almost always around the surface and is gasping.

Initially I thought she was pregnant and would either deliver or abort - but she's been like this for several days and no change. I know that constipation can be an issue but I've seen her with a fecal trail (albeit a short one).

Any recommendations - I hate seeing her in obvious discomfort.
 
dropsy.

check in the articles section of the forums under "article index" for diseases and their causes, and scroll down to the dropsy section. it shoud give you a place to start.

one thing I can tell you of fthe top of my head though is dropsy is often caused by either an internal bacterial infection or poor water conditions. might want to check your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and make sure everything looks good.

good luck!
 
If she looks like a pinecone there is a good chance she has dropsy. This has more than one cause. And I am sorry to say there is little you can do about it.

This is SuperD's update description of dropsy (From the Fish Diseases: causes and cures
Article ).


Dropsy (Chronic, Acute, and Malawi)
By definition, dropsy means fluid in the abdomen, but with fishkeeping this will include all ailments that cause the abdomen swell abnormally. There are three kinds of dropsy that often can't be distinguished from each other unless a post-mortem is done.

Chronic dropsy
Swollen abdomen which slowly develops due to cancer in the internal organs or presence of large parasites (they can cause liver or kidney damage or peritonitis). This dropsy won't spread as long as you take out the infected fish when it becomes ill. There is no cure for this form, euthanasia is the only way to go. Go to a vet for a post-mortem (for the sake of your other fish).

Acute dropsy
This form causes sudden swelling, and causes the fishes scales to stand out. The most common cause of this form is bacterial septicemia. Consult a vet for treatment of the affected fish and its contacts. The vet should give an antibiotic.

Malawi bloat
This form affects Cichilds, producing a dropsy that may be due to bacteria or semi-cancerous conditions in the stomach. Causes of this form is not yet fully understood. There is no cure for this form, euthanasia is the only way to go. Remove the infected fish and take it to a vet for a post-mortem.
 
dropsy, 100%. there is no surefire cure for dropsy, and you may have to euthanize her. :sad:
 
Sorry Lunch Box you must have posted while I was typing. I agree with everything you wrote.
 
the problem with treating this disease is that there are a number of "potential" causes: bacterial infection, parasites, cancerous tumors, virus', internal fungal infections or sudden temperature drop of more than 3 degrees.

If the cause is bacterial, the swelling typically comes on pretty rapidly. if swelling is gradual then one or more of the other potential causes are more likely. unfortunately, treatment is most often useless at this point due to the advanced state of the disease process. When the illness, whatever the cause, has progressed far enough to cause internal swelling, the concommitant internal damage is usually too extensive to be repairable.

the latest research has shown that if the disease cause is bacterial and if the disease process is caught early enough, treatment with Romet B, a broad spectrum antibacterial, *may* be effective when used concurrent with an increase in water temperature to 84-86F for 2 weeks minimum.

BE CERTAIN to maintain HIGH OXYGEN LEVELS during such treatment since at these temperatures, water holds significantly less oxygen at these higher water temperatures. one of the suspected bacterial precursers to the disease process -- Aeromonas, is killed at these temperatures.

concurrently add 1/8 teaspoon of EPSOM SALT -- per 5 gallons of water. feeding foods soaked in ERYTHROMYCIN will kill the second suspected bacteria, Mycobacterium. in rare cases popeye has been found to be caused by Edwardsiella etarda. this is found *only* in fish that have been bred in outdoor ponds -- the functional bacteria in this case is carried by frogs. while fair to good results in treatment have been found by feeding Romet B., even better results have been found using injectable chloramphenicol or amakacin. this is best done by your veterinarian.

If parasites are a known cause, treat for them first for 3 days increasing the temperature to 86oF as fast as possible.

EPSOM SALT may help reduce the internal pressure casued by the swelling. extremely good aeration is necessary here due to the use of such high temperatures.

NEVER USE SALT (sodium chloride, a.k.a aquarium salt) for treatment of dropsy. this will KILL your fish in a very short time. the affected fish are already having a difficult time getting rid of salts due to kidney disfunction. this causes the blown up appearance and concurrent scale standing. the osmotic inbalance caused by addition of sodium to your tank water will make this condition far worse.

EPSOM SALT on the other hand, does not pass through the walls of the gut or gills and will extract water OUT of the surrounding tissue into the gut where it *may* be excreted.
 
If you are going to use aggressive treatments (anitibiontics, etc. as mentioned) I would definitely move her to a quarantine tank if you have one available. If she is the only one in the tank with symptoms, you probably don't want to expose all your other fish to medications of put your biological filter at risk.

Good Luck with her.
 
jennypenny said:
Sorry Lunch Box you must have posted while I was typing. I agree with everything you wrote.
Click to expand...
no problemo. I went the lazy route and pointed to the articles where you went the extra mile and got the relevant text ;)

and thanks to Liv for going into FAR more detail than I ever would have ;) always the bastion of information, that guy :)
 
who's a bastion? you calling me a bastion? hey ... i represent that statement. :)
 
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